The gracious folks at the Internet Archive have released an epic flood of MS-DOS sci-fi games you can play for free right from the comfort of your own browser. This treasure of 2300 classic amusements from the '80s and '90s includes nearly three dozen science-fiction-themed and space-based games, including Zaxxon, Meteor Mission, Star Castle, Alien Rampage, ALF - The First Adventure, Star Wars, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trivia Challenge, Beyond the Black Hole, Space Station Oblivion, Stargate, Droids, StarBlade, Where in Space Is Carmen San Diego?, Galactic Gladiators and many more. There's even a sweet space shuttle simulator called Orbiter from 1986 that is apparently based on actual NASA mission procedures!

Playable on a standard Internet browser of your choice, this abundance of geeky goodness can be explored at the MS-DOS Software Library at the Internet Achive. Jason Scott, software curator for the Internet Archive, warned users that they may experience a few glitches and attempted to download only fully functional games. Saving portions of the games for later is not an option, of course, but gamers should be able to experience some analogue of the original MS-DOS program in their browsers instantly.

More games

So clear your calendar, blow off all your responsibilities and blast off into this nostalgic galaxy for endless hours of retro games. Send us a note as to what your favorites were -- maybe we'll read it, if we're not too busy playing games.